Thursday, January 19, 2012

It takes a special kind of person to undertake the task of changing deeply held perceptions of a historical character when there is no prospect of personal gain, yet that’s what Delin Colón has done with Rasputin & the Jews: A Reversal of History.

To most people who know little about him, the name, Rasputin, conjures up an image of someone disheveled, evil and debauched. If they know a little more, they may be aware of his reputation for having supernatural powers which he used to exert mind control over Czarina Alexandra, as well as his proximity to Czar Nicholas II to advance his own purposes. The stories of the many attempts to murder him -- he was stabbed, poisoned, shot 3 times, bound and thrown into the river before he finally died, though it was never clear which of these actions ultimately did him in -- only built upon the legend of his dark powers as well as the need, by so many, to get rid of him. Although no one denies that Rasputin was unkempt-looking, he was, in reality, a monk with what seemed like an ability to predict the future (though it was often just common sense), and a deep concern for the downtrodden.

Inspired by the published memoir of her great-uncle, Aron Simanovich, who was Rasputin’s Jewish secretary, as well as biographies written by Rasputin’s daughters, and memoirs from the Czar’s court, Colón demonstrates that Rasputin was maligned in history because he supported proper treatment of the Jews, much to the disdain of the Russian nobility and the Czar’s officers who were fervent anti-Semites and who jockeyed amongst themselves for the Czar’s favor.

Nicholas II, the last Czar of Russia, the last of the Romanov dynasty, blamed the Jews for all of Russia’s and their own problems, so it was quite surprising to learn that Rasputin was an ardent supporter and defender of the Jews. He sought to get Nicholas to call off planned pogroms, and helped get Jewish youths into Universities once the quota had been filled. He also advised Nicholas not to launch the Russo-Japanese War, the loss of which resulted in Russia losing its superpower status. Despite his many efforts and privileged access to Czarina Alexandra (she begged him to use his mystical powers to heal the crown price of hemophilia), Rasputin was never able to change Czar Nicholas’ thinking about the Jews. He did, however, dissuade Nicholas from conducting a few pogroms, and used his position and high-level connections to help get Jews into Universities, without benefitting, himself. But this didn’t calm the paranoia within the Czar’s court. Rasputin’s support wasn’t out of any special connection or obligation to the Jewish people, but simply because he was concerned for all oppressed individuals, and no one at the time was more oppressed than the Jews.

Colón draws a vivid picture of what life was like for Jews during Nicholas II’s reign over the Russian-occupied territories to show the environment in which Rasputin operated. Among the many way the Czar persecuted the Jews (beyond the pogroms) were many laws that made ordinary survival very difficult. For example, in order for a Jew to get into an institution of higher learning, his family needed to pay tuition for multiple Christian students. If a Jew was allowed to practice his profession, he was allowed to do only that, so “if an apothecary’s assistant, unable to find work, opened a druggist’s shop, for which his training qualified him,” this was considered a “change of occupation, leading to the forfeiture of his residence.” While Rasputin knew he was beating his head against a brick wall when it came to trying to talk to Nicholas about fair or equal treatment for the Jews, who had already, 100 years earlier, been banished to the Pale of Settlement by Catherine the Great, yet he never stopped to worry about his own welfare when he was looking out for people who needed a defender.

Simanovich, Rasputin’s Jewish secretary who witnessed his boss’ selfless acts of kindness, wrote his memoir to document the actions of a man who, during his lifetime, had been repeatedly maligned by those who feared the loss of their position or privileged status, and by history. Yet where Simanovich failed, Colón succeeded by drawing on multiple resources. And like Rasputin’s selfless acts of kindness, Colón, too, was only motivated by doing what was morally correct.

Rasputin & the Jews: A Reversal of History is a work of scholarship that urges us to rethink acquired prejudices. And what it points out is that Rasputin was as much a victim of anti-Semitism as was the Jewish population whom he sought to defend.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Effort raises about $17,000 to cover insurance, back-taxes and other debts

As we reported last week, friends of the cash-strapped venue have been leading an effort to raise $12,000 in funds needed to cover insurance fees, which are due in March. If they couldn't come through with the cash, the Ché would've had to stop putting on shows.

The fundraising effort culminated this weekend with I Promise, a three-day benefit festival that featured a cross-section of bands that are near-and-dear to the venue. Jesse Kranzler, one of the fest's organizers, says it brought in about $8,000. The venue had previously raised about $9,000 through donations to a benefit website and other efforts, bringing the total donations to around $17,000. The surplus will help cover back-taxes and other debts, Kranzler says.

The sold-out indie-rock showcase on Saturday night, featuring noise-rock heavies No Age and Crystal Antlers, was the Ché's highest-grossing concert of all time, Kranzler says, bringing in about $4,000. I went on Sunday night for the experimental-noise show and the turnout was pretty big that night, too.

One of the highlights on Sunday was Realization Orchestra, a new band featuring members of Ty Segall and Weatherbox. They looked like DEVO in their purple jumpsuits, but their extremely weird, yet technically proficient, sound had more to do with iconoclasts like John Zorn and Captain Beefheart. They were clearly having tons of fun, which made their unpredictable compositions all the more enjoyable.

I was also happy to see L.A. spazz-rock legends XBXRX. The last time I saw them at the Ché, back in the early '00s, their singer jumped around the space like a freaky sprite, climbing the rafters and bringing everyone together in an epic group hug in a thoroughly chaotic 15-minute set that ended when one of the members broke his nose. They've grown sludgier and more metal in the decade since, but they still wrought absolute mayhem on Sunday, climbing the rafters, detuning their guitars and even stepping offstage to do push-ups and sit-ups amid the crowd. All the while, a guy in a wheelchair gamely held his own in the mosh pit. Awesome!

The big draw, however, was Health, a noise-rock band that emerged out of The Smell, an all-ages club in L.A. Their thrilling set featured a mix of spastic noise jams and nightclub-ready electro-rock anthems; masters of contrast, they let out jarring bursts of noise over sing-song vocals and pummeling drums. My God, what a sight to see they were. Their bassist whipped around his long hair like some kind of rock 'n' roll angel. Their savage drummer, with his big build and curly hair, had the look of an ancient warrior.

Towards the end of Health's set, Kranzler stepped onstage to let everybody know that the fundraiser was a success, tossing a handful of confetti at the crowd. After the show, people behind the fundraising effort were all smiles. The fundraiser didn't just save this all-volunteer, all-ages venue, they said. It reinvigorated it.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Sorry for the silence on this blog, most of the action has been going on over on Facebook &, with details constantly changing with this festival, it’s been hard to keep everything up to date. BUT ANYWAYS, the festival is this weekend!

We are so excited to have such awesome lineups for each day and have had the best group of people helping out. Big thanks go out to Scott Sanders for coordinating this whole festival with me & booking a majority of the bands you guys will see this weekend, Heather Brosche for creating all of the artwork &, along with Bobby Bray, printing all materials & creating all of the Internet events for the weekend. Special thanks also go out to Greg Prout & everyone else at the Che for helping us every step of the way and allowing us to put on such an overwhelming event, & to George Pritzker for his help in starting all of the fundraising work for the Che and helping with this blog & festival details throughout the process.

A lot of you have been asking when & where you may get tickets for this festival. Well, I finally have an answer for you. Tickets will be available at the Che starting at 3 PM on Friday, January 6th and will be available throughout the fest. But you don’t want to wait on line, do you?

Well, here’s all the info you need to get your tickets at will call (fancy right?):

Send an email to thechecafe@gmail.com with “WILL CALL” as the subject. in the body of the email list:

NAME:

# of TICKETS:

DATE OF SHOW:

Then wait for a reply back with a confirmation and amount owed.

If you do not get your tickets will call, remember to ARRIVE EARLY. The Che has a strict 200 person capacity and we want to get as many people in as possible.

We have printed a limited number of posters for each day as well as for the full festival. These will be for sale at all of the shows!

Below are the links for the Facebook event pages for each day. RSVP & invite your friends!
Day 1 (1/6): http://www.facebook.com/events/271366366251444/
Day 2 (1/7): http://www.facebook.com/events/210376055713749/
Day 3 (1/8): http://www.facebook.com/events/151310851644300/
All days: http://www.facebook.com/events/297863113567458/

"...I was a student at Hunter College, taking classes at night. I had planned to attend a lecture after class at the Young Israel Adult Institute in lower Manhattan, and one of my fellow students expressed interest in coming with me.

"We took the subway downtown. The subway car was half empty. We were sitting and chatting when, suddenly, the door connected the cars burst open and an agitated, almost incoherent man staggered in. He cried, 'Ayudame, ayudame!' Fortunately, I was studying Spanish at the time and, though never a great language student, I knew it meant, 'Help me, help me!' People started to get up when they saw him and I assumed they were coming to his aid. Instead, every single one of them fled to the other end of the subway car. Without stopping to think, I ran to help him in whatever way I could, trying to calm the man and getting him to sit down to catch his breath. The young man I was with kept insisting, 'Get away from him! Don't be so stupid! We're getting off at the next stop!' He kept tugging at my coat sleeve, trying to get me to come with him. By this time, agitated myself, I yanked his arm off and yelled, 'If you're not going to help, leave me alone!' He finally did, and as soon as the train stopped at the next station, he got off and so did most of the other passengers. The ones who remained pretended to be oblivious, reading their newspapers or faking dozing.

I put my arm around the poor man and helped him out of the train at the next station. To my dismay, the platform was totally deserted. There were no cell phones then, no guards on the trains. I realized that there had to be a ticket booth where people could buy subway token. There was, and a woman was in the booth. By this time, the man had told me that he had been stabbed. I asked her to please, please call the police and get him help as he was wounded. She took her sweet time, and, looking at the victim with contempt, muttered something nasty under her breath. I had to threaten to report her to her supervisor before she deigned to pick up the phone.

"After what seemed like hours, a police officer finally showed up. He also was in no hurry to administer first aid and get the man to an emergency room. Finally, he agreed, and took the man up the steps to the street. What happened to that poor man after that, I had no way of knowing.

"It was pretty late by then (I never did get to that lecture) so I went home. I found my parents drinking tea in the kitchen. Not wanting to arm them, I said, "I just had an interesting experience.'

"I can see,' my father replied. 'You have blood on your coat.'

"Once they saw that I was not injured, I was able to tell them what had happened, knowing that I would not be criticized for my impulsive behavior. For we were raised to do what we knew in our heart was right, even if it did not make us popular. Looking back at it today, I realize my parents gave us a great gift."